‘Les Miserables,’ theater review
6 / 10
..what's really outstanding about Broadway's mixed-bag reboot of 'Les Miserables' comes when the show is at its leanest and most minimal: one man, one voice, one prayer. That signature, goosebump-raising moment now features London stage vet and Broadway rookie Ramin Karimloo, who plays the fugitive convict Jean Valjean. When he sings 'Bring Him Home,' the heaven-sent octave-leaping plea for mercy, his purity and hushed fervor lifts the production to a higher level...On the downside, the staging and performances are hit-and-miss. Tag-team directors Laurence Connor and James Powell make the mournful 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' pierce the heart with a candlelit eloquence. Too bad they push the scheming innkeepers - played by Cliff Saunders and Keala Settle - to such grotesque, and boring, levels...As the reluctant prostitute Fantine, Caissie Levy soldiers through the iconic 'I Dreamed a Dream' with a straight-up determination. Nikki M. James inspires empathy as Eponine, and Samantha Hill hits the right notes as the delicate Cosette
